NEW YORK — “Star Trek” actor-activist George Takei, 80, has denied he groped a struggling model in 1981. Takei said Nov. 11 in a series of tweets that events described in an interview with Scott R. Brunton “simply did not occur.” Takei says he didn’t know “why he has claimed them now” and does not remember ever knowing Brunton.
Brunton told the Hollywood Reporter that he was living in Hollywood when he met Takei at a bar. They exchanged numbers and then Takei invited him out and back to his condo. Brunton said he “must have passed out” after a drink, awaking to find Takei sexually assaulting him.
Takei called the accusations “a he said/he said situation, over alleged events nearly 40 years ago. But those that know me understand that nonconsensual acts are so antithetical to my values and my practices, the very idea that someone would accuse me of this is quite personally painful.”
The accusation against Takei is just another development in the barrage of sexual assault, harassment and rape allegations to rock the entertainment industry and other fields in recent weeks.
